You saw the news, you braved the lines, and you got away with an HP TouchPad for a ridiculous price. Lucky you! You have in your very hands the latest and greatest in personal computing technology, even if the company that made it wants nothing to do with it. That’s okay, you got a good deal. And now you’re wondering just what to do with this magical mystery device called the TouchPad. Here’s what you need to know:

TouchPad Apps:

You’ve got the basics down, your email set up, and Flash playing in the web browser. Things are good, and now it’s time for them to get great. You need apps. Here are some great apps you’re going to want to check out (if you open these links on your TouchPad, they’ll open right into the App Catalog!):

Facebook, Free: While Twitter might be on the rise, Facebook is still king. And the Facebook app for TouchPad is king amongst tablet Facebook apps. And that’s also only partly because it’s one of the only Facebook tablet apps (guess what the iPad doesn’t have). It also helps that it’s pretty darned awesome and takes advanatage of a lot of the unique features of webOS 3.0.

Kindle, Free: You know what? You got a 10-inch color touchscreen Kindle for less than what a regular Kindle would cost you. And this Kindle TouchPad can do so much more than just read, but sometimes that’s all you really want to do. Thankfully, there’s a full-blown Kindle app available for the TouchPad, with a library of hundreds of thousands of eBooks ready for the downloading.

AccuWeather, Free: It’s a simple weather app, but it works well and uses the TouchPad’s big screen well. AccuWeather quickly offers your current conditions, the detailed forecast for the next several days, a nice large radar view, weather alerts, videos, and more for locations all around the globe.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, $9.99: You can play the cops or the racers in this fast-paced 3D racer. Move up the ranks to newer and faster cars with beautiful graphics and rich sound. It’s high performance gaming on a high performance tablet.

Preware, Free: If you know webOS, chance are you know of homebrew. It’s not anything like jailbreaking on an iPhone – in fact it’s practically endorsed by HP. Preware opens your tablet up to a whole new world of apps from the Homebrew Gallery on PreCentral as well as dozens of patches that you can safely apply to your TouchPad to enhance its functionality. Oh, and it’s all free an open source. What’s better than that?

TouchPad Accessories

Chances are even though you probably didn’t spend a lot on your new TouchPad, you do want to get the most out of it and keep it safe. That’s why we at PreCentral has a comprehensive and growing selection of HP TouchPad accessories in our store.

Touchstone Charging Dock, $74.95: Quick, easy, and wireless charging with the Touchstone dock. This dock, which works both in portrait and landscape orientations, wirelessly charges your TouchPad through the magic that is inductive charging. It works just as fast as the wall charger and allows you to use Exhibition Mode on your TouchPad to display all manner of information from installed apps, be it your calendar, a photo slideshow, or the weather. And did we mention how easy it is to charge? Just set your TouchPad down on the Touchstone and it starts charging. When you need it, just grab it right off. It's mind numbingly easy and will change how you use your tablet.

TouchPad Folio Case, $44.95: A rubber folio-style case for the TouchPad, complete with a flap to cover and protect that big glass screen. The flap can be folded around back to prop the TouchPad up for typing or watching movies. All ports and buttons are accessible with the case on, and you can even charge on the Touchstone through the case back and flap. The inside of the case and flap are coated with a nice soft microfiber that helps protect the TouchPad and will even clean the screen a bit.

BodyGuardz Protective Skin for TouchPad, $27.95: You’ve probably already realized that both the front and back of the TouchPad are fingerprint magnets. You might have even put a scratch or two in that super-glossy back of the TouchPad. The BodyGuardz Protective Skins are here to help. This two-piece screen-and-body protective film puts a durable sheet of plastic between your TouchPad and the hazards of the world. It won’t take away the fingerprints, but it’ll at least help with the scratches.

TouchPad Forums, News, Twitter

Of course, there’s more to your TouchPad than just knowing how to use it, having apps, and a few accessories. There’s the vibrant webOS community – the best you’ll find anywhere – and the PreCentral Forums are at the epicenter of it all. We have more than 475,000 members, with hundreds more joining daily. You’ll find the most knowledgeable and helpful members of the webOS community right here, along with all the conversation you’ll ever need.

And, of course, you can come right back here to PreCentral.net for all of the latest news of webOS, reviews of the best webOS apps and accessories, the hottest rumors, more tips and how-to’s than you can shake a stick at, regular podcasts, and the occasional epic rant. We’re not usually one to toot our own horn, but there’s a reason PreCentral is the leading webOS site and community on the internet: it’s because we’re dedicated to making sure you have everything you need to be an informed webOS users. And because we’re awesome.

You can also follow PreCentral on Twitter, where you’ll get all of our news plus additional commentary and occasional answers to your questions. But really, you’ll probably just spend all of your time in the forums, and that’s perfectly alright. We’re thrilled to have you here.

This guide is much better IMO than the "getting Started" one in the forums ala ncinerate. I think that one goes to quickly into doctoring and homebrew.
It's better to get them started [here] then those wanting to go deeper, use that guide. I agree it was good info,

but as I said, lets not scare them off with too much detail in the beginning. At least give them a day or two to get settled in.

I couldn't agree more. I still have my launch day pre- and my day 1 Touchpad, price matched at Best Buy and spend more time than I would like to admit on this site. It is my number 1 favorite and I check for updates hourly at least, even though I know there probably isn't anything new. The forums are always fun too.

I hear you, I was down there, just got back home, but we drove around all morning waterway and the only places that had them were bj's and costcos but neither honored the sale. Thankfully I jumped on the amazon announcements and got me and my brother one each. Wish it was from amazon itself so I could of used my prime membership, but we got them keep up with the forums and you will eventually get one. That's what's great about precentral, we help each other out :)

searched everywhere....no luck...so many bought just to sell for profit...really is annoying for people who really want it for webos...I saw one in pre central forum proud that he sold it for 250.00...it really is disgusting...maybe I will get lucky...most likely wont...

Don't be heartbroken. The coolness of the WebOS interface and multitasking is gradually overwhelmed by frustration with the very slow browser and inability to properly play Hulu or any streaming video aside from youtube. Even my mp4 videos have issues playing. Almost nothing on the device works as well as I'd expect. If there's no more software updates and no one figures out how to hack android onto it I will probably sell mine at some point, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. WebOS works much better on phones at this point.

The speakers and angry birds are great though, and I now appreciate having a tablet around.

What's so disgusting about buying and selling for profit? That's the american way. I can't fault those who do this. If you want one, it's up to you to get one. IMO, it'd be risky to buy a bunch unless you flipped them quickly.

This was a pretty easy deal to get in on. At least it didn't involve hours waiting in line.

You're still stuck on Tea Reader? If you want a list- and panel-based interface, TouchFeeds is the way to go. It just works better than Tea Reader.

If you want a bookshelf-like view, then NomNomNom is the way to go. Either way, both of them are far ahead of Tea Reader. They're both open source (before *it* happened and made it fashionable to open source apps) and they're both top-of-the-line in their interface categories.

It is sad really. I looked at the touch pad two days ago as a book reader and decided to get an Acer (much more powerful/features) for the same price. I remember thinking if this were 200 bucks I would likely buy it. Low and behold I returned the Acer yesterday and bought the 32 gig for 150 bucks. Had HP just dropped the price some they could have sold these like hot cakes. I would have paid double for the 16 gb and maybe even 250 for the 32 gig. The OS has it's perks although slow at times. The printing and Facebook photos/contacts are sweet. Since all I really needed was a book reader this no doubt kicks the nooks butt! It is sad to see the device retire but I love the new price. Overall kindle app and open office are enough to keep me happy. I wish I had a network browser thought (SMB file shares). I will no doubt be happy with addition to my tech family (EVO, Galaxy TAB, MSI Laptop and so on).

It's amazing that practically shooting webOS in the head is what it took for it to get popular. The TouchPad is the most sought after tech gadget right now. O_O. The silver lining in this is that whoever inherits WebOS can capitalize on it's newfound userbase and grow it further if they act swiftly enough.

I didn't liked HP before, hate it right now. But as someone said, if somebody is interested, there's a really good market right now to grow business with the best -but abandoned- mobile operating system. I have a concrete question: Is the 3G TouchPad and Pre 3 going to see day light? Those I will loved to buy!!!

I cannot believe this wont be noticed...I know some are going to try to make them into android but there will be so many that will be amazed by WebOS. Now tha I finally got one...I feel good about the future....and once comes to worst I have a Kindle player for $116

Thanks for the newbie tips. Just bought the touchpad (At least I hope I did) online. I came here from Crackberry. One of the great things about the smartphone experts network, is there was no question as to where to begin with my new toy.

Just picked up two 16 gig touchpads from Barnes and Noble for $230 and change for me and my dad. Feels like June '09 again where I was SO hyped for the pre- to drop, heck I basically forced my dad to get one too because I was convinced webos was going to be the ultimatum in smartphone os. Look at it now.....

I also just got my 16Gb @ bn.com (they aren't discounting the 32Gb yet, but I've missed too many other sales). Paid an extra $1 for the faster shipping. First thing I'll do is buy a few apps - gotta show the devs some love so they can keep the TP apps coming!

I got a 16g from bn.com for the discounted price. I wonder if were still gonna be eligible for the $50.00 credit to buy apps . . Also does anyone know if were still able to get the 50g of storage from box.net ?

yes, i bought my 16 GB July 1st, got a price match at BB yesterday morning (picked up a 32 GB as well, which i sold to a friend for $100 - i wanted the 16 GB)...oh well. so yes, i logged into my palm profile and still have $42.00 left for credit to apps.

Wasn't happy in the beginning when HP announced this whole fiasco but worked out the best for i hope most of u as it did for me. :)

I would not be surprised to see box.net cancel that 50GB for life deal. That was probably premised on having an ecosystem that gave them a chance to make money, or was subsidized by HP. With HP pulling out, there is nothing in it for box.net, unless someone else steps in on behalf of webOS and honors the deal.

Why the **** HP blown from their shop Touchpads?
Are there no one more in stock after all that mess?
I've been waiting for 6 months to buy one of those in Spain, even at original price, now price drop, and the day after they are not available any more.

B&N is the way to go for the continued fire sale of the TP. I just got mine this morning. Thanks again to the precentral community!

Does anyone have more details on the Pre2 firesale. I would love to frankenpre one with the radio in my sprint pre minus. I figure that will get be by for another year to see what happens with webos before jumping ship to wp7 or android. I can't go iOS because they have so much market share. You know Apple will start resting on their laurels when it comes to smartphones and obviously iPhone is not an option with sprint.

I would really like to know how many TPs were manufactured by the company we now all hate with a passion and have sworn to never buy any of their future products as long as we live. Unfortunately we are all helping the unmentionable company by participating in this firesale. Oh well, I guess it is just another one of life's unavoidable contraditions.

We hate you HP but we will buy every TP you ever made which will support your Board's horrendous decision to dump webos.

Does anyone have a credible source for how many TPs are out there now? I have heard the 250K number bantered about often. Is there any confirmation of this number or is this just a wild *ss guess to encourage webos developers to keep at it just a little longer? It would certainly be a shame to see this community implode over night.

PEOPLE,please update your Touchpad to the new webOS 3.0.2.My friend was lucky to snatched 2 32gigs Touchpad at my local Bestbuy.He bought it for him and his girl,but they had no idea ab out the recent update.Funny thing is,the Touchpad was updating itself automatically when we had wifi connection.After the update installed,he was happy and surprised to see how fast and stable things ran.Him and his girl was impress about webOS.

First post here: I just wanted to say thank you to the author of this article, and to the community in general here.

I am one of those who was intrigued by webOS and the TouchPad in general, but was hesitant to purchase anything until the price made it a no-brainer. I was very encouraged to find a vibrant community to help me get the most of this new device. Thanks again.

I was surprised to see there isn't any built in Flickr... does anyone have any tips on getting Flickr on the device? I see there's Flickr Mundo HD for $2.99, is that the best option or am I missing something else?

I would like the ability to not only snap photos and upload but also view my pictures as a slideshow.. might be two apps for that. (i tried Uplood lite but it doesn't seem to have the ability to snap a picture, only upload).

Even if this thing becomes a dinosaur in a year, for $150 it would make a pretty great picture frame complete with wireless built in (a kodak touch screen wireless pic frame w/ wireless built in is $200 alone)

Flickrmundo is the only option for Flickr Accountss at the moment. It is feature rich but there is no baked-in support for it yet (like Snapfish and Photobucket). I'd like to see Flickr support myself. Take a look at the Exhibition App. 'Just Type' "Exhibition" in to the main screen and click on the icon when it pops up. Then press the 'Start' button at the bottom. Once Exhibition starts up, swipe on the top left part of the screen which will bring down the Exhibition modes that are available to you. Photos will be one of them.

Still rocking the launch day pre-, ready to jump over to the Photon when HP sent the tech world spinning with this crazy good deal for an awesome device. Freetether on the Pre-a couple of patches on the Touchpad, and I am sitting in the park having lunch surfing the web. Thank you HP and preware.

So i am trying to install accuweather for touchpad on mine and the only one out there is the version for the phone. Any suggestions? Looks like a nice app but the one i have downloads and runs like it is on the phone. Any ideas on what to do???

I am one of the proud new owners of a shiny 32gig TouchPad via the weekend firesale :)

My biggest most pressing question is how tha heck can I tether my new TouchPad if I don't have a webOS phone? I have an Android phone with a super speedy unlimited Verizon 4G connection...and would LOVE (/slash/NEED) to be able to tether my Android phone to my TouchPad in order to use it on the go (when I can't find a free WiFi connection).

I own a Pre Plus on Verizon, and original iPad, an iPod touch, and just received my touchpad today from officedepot. For the $149 I paid for it, it's worth every penny, but now that I look at it, there is no way I would have ever paid the $499 they were asking for it. Here are some comparisons with my original iPad:

- The iPad is lighter. The touchpad feels substantially heavier in your hand
- webOs still feels sluggish. I was hoping that weOs 3 would be much faster than what I have on my Pre+, but sadly things are still quite a bit sluggish compared to the iPad.
- What's with the fine micro-dots on the screen? This was something that is also on the Pre+ and it's there on the touchpad and I can definitely see it at certain angles. It's a bit annoying at times when you see the grid of dots
- The touchpad screen isn't as accurate as the ipad. I find myself having to tap multiple times for it to register correctly
- I still like webOs better than iOs but I miss the gestures from my Pre+
- Love the on-screen keyboard on the touchpad. The numbers are really wonderful and make typing much easier.
- Apps apps app - OK, everyone knows this. The hp app catalog flat out sucks. I tried looking for a PDF viewer as an alternative to Adobe Acrobat. Zilch. I have at least three different ones on my iPad, not to mention iBooks which is really clean and fast
- What's with the scrolling on the app store. Everytime I scroll, it keeps opening the apps. For some reason it's registering an extra tap when I release my finger from the screen. Never seen that sort of behavior on the iPad
- System update is acting up. I have 3.0.0 and it says 3.0.2 68 is available. I tap "Download" now. It downloads about 5% then says that I have the latest version, which I don't. Still haven't been able to update it.

Well, i went the WebOs Quick Install route and got it updated. I've installed preware now with some of the patches that has sped things up.

Since last night, I gave my iPad to my wife and honestly now I'm rather depressed. I've gone through the webos app catalog and it's just horrible. Ugly looking icons for lame apps abound. Can anyone give me decent equivalents to the following apps that I use on the iPad:

Just looking at the ipad and touchpad side by side, sadly the ipad apps are so polished, clean, and fast, and EXISTENT. Curse you HP for not doing a fire sale from the start to shore up support for developers so that we could've gotten some better apps.